Strong quake hits Indonesia

People look at walls damaged by a strong earthquake at a prison in Aceh province in Indonesia, Wednesday, April 11, 2012. Two massive earthquakes triggered back-to-back tsunami warnings for Indonesia on Wednesday, sending panicked residents fleeing to high ground in cars and on the backs of motorcycles. No deadly waves or serious damage resulted, and a watch for much of the Indian Ocean was lifted after a few hours. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

People look at walls damaged by a strong earthquake at a prison in Aceh province in Indonesia, Wednesday, April 11, 2012. Two massive earthquakes triggered back-to-back tsunami warnings for Indonesia on Wednesday, sending panicked residents fleeing to high ground in cars and on the backs of motorcycles. No deadly waves or serious damage resulted, and a watch for much of the Indian Ocean was lifted after a few hours. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

Published Jun 1, 2012

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A strong earthquake has hit eastern Indonesia. There are no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency says the 6.2 magnitude quake struck at 3.56 local time (06.56 GMT) on Friday in the eastern province of Papua Barat on Papua island. It struck about 18 kilometres under the earth's surface and was centred about 72 kilometres south-east of the town of Tambraw.

The US Geological Survey says the earthquake had a magnitude of 5.8.

Indonesia has frequent earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. - Sapa-AP

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